BA FINED FOR HAV RISK FAILURES

UK’s airline giant, British Airways, has been fined for exposing employees to injury risks at a Scottish airport through a series of health and safety failings.

BA left employees at risk of hand arm vibrations while they used tools as they fixed planes in the firm’s workshop at Glasgow Airport.

It failed to carry out suitable and sufficient risk assessments on drills, impact hammers and sanders being used to carry out repairs. There was also a lack of an investigation into the effects of using the hand-held tools, which meant workers could have suffered as a result.

Hand arm vibration (HAVs) can cause tingling, pins and needles, numbness and pain in the affected persons’ hands. The effects are irreversible.

BA should have systematically checked and recorded the exposure by workers to the vibrations from hand-held tools, potentially exposing the workforce to the risk of injury whilst working within the workshops.

BA admitted in court that it had failed to carry out the legally required protocols between July 2005 and August 2012 at the British Airways Limited premises at Glasgow Airport. It was fined £6,500.

A spokeswoman for BA said: “We take our responsibility to our colleagues very seriously. As soon as the issue was identified we took immediate action to limit the time they use these tools.”